


Separates The Goats From The Sheep

by All_the_Lovely_Newsies



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Canon Era, Especially in the Catholic Church, Hurt/Comfort, It's kinda sad people, JoMike if you squint, Left Handed people were not cool back in the day, Life is hard for our favorite newsboys, M/M, Mike is a good (boy)friend, Past Child Abuse, a bit of a history lesson, nothing graphic, platonic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2019-07-18
Packaged: 2020-07-07 21:15:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19858141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_the_Lovely_Newsies/pseuds/All_the_Lovely_Newsies
Summary: Jojo whipped around in shock, his pencil falling in slow motion from his hand. His left hand. The Devil’s hand. He shut his eyes tight, tears threatening the corners. They saw. They definitely saw.---The title comes from the Bible verse Matthew 25:31-33





	Separates The Goats From The Sheep

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first (kinda) angsty piece. It's based on a headcanon I did a while back. So please be cautious of triggers. There's mentions of past abuse but nothing graphic! Please enjoy!

Jojo wasn’t paying attention, that was his first mistake. Lost within his own little world. Words flowing out of pencil like a waterfall. 

_Stupid_

Seated on the edge of his bed in the lodging house. A broken spring threatened to poke through the ratty mattress. He thought he was alone, his second mistake.  
_Stupid_

It was his journal. The one he’d carried around with him since his days in Harlem. Ratty and stained from overuse. It detailed everything, the good and the bad.  


_Cum autem venerit Filius Hominis in gloria su_

The marks of old tears and blood were sure signs of the bad. The doodles of hearts and flowers that of the good.  


_Et omnes angeli cum eo, tunc sedebit super sedem malestatis suae._  


He viciously wrote down everything from the day. It was a good one. Most were since he came to the Duane Street Lodging House. Sure he was starting to be able to feel each of his ribs individually, and the ruckus caused by 20 other boys was hardly an improvement, but here he had friends. Here he didn’t have to follow rules strict enough to be made for slave. Here he talked to nuns who didn’t hit him for breaking such easily broken rules. Rules he never wanted to break, but ones that went against his nature. Ones he couldn’t control.

_Et congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes_

“Jojo?”

Jojo whipped around in shock, his pencil falling in slow motion from his hand. His left hand. The Devil’s hand. He shut his eyes tight, tears threatening the corners. They saw. They definitely saw. He could feel his heartbeat quickening, his breaths becoming shorter and shorter. Suddenly his chest is tight, he curls his knees to his chest and grips his hair with such force his hat tumbles to the ground. The world went fuzzy. The air somehow thicker.

“Forgive me Sister for I have sinned.” It came out just above a whisper.

“Jo, are you okay?” A hand rested gently on his shoulder, stinging his skin like a hot iron.

“Forgive me Sister for I have sinned.” Louder this time.<

A pair of strong arms wrapped tightly around his torso. Hot breath tickled his ear. The heat of the Devil. This was it. Tears spewed from his eyes.

_Suffocation._

_A ruler against his hand._

_Bleeding._

_Names and taunts and scripture._

_Et separabiet eos ab invicem sicut pastor segreat oves ab hedis. Et statuet oves quidem a dextris suis, haedos autem a sinistris._

But the pain never came. The arms around him remained still. Soft fingers rubbed his arms and slowly Jojo heard the gentle words. No yelling. No dragging him to the cellar. No adding another scar to his already large collection. The world stilled. His breathing evened. The knot in his chest unwound. Around him the scene became clear.

And he turned his head.

It was Mike. Not a nun, not the Devil, Mike. His eyes calm and his lips moving slowly.

“Hey, hey, calm down, they can’t hurt you anymore.”

Still unable to control his tears, Jojo took a deep breath, “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry.” He refused to look Mike in the eyes and stared angrily at his disfigured hand.

“There’s no reason for you to be sorry.”

And he took Jojo’s hand.

And raised it gently to his lips.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I enjoy hurting my favorite characters too. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it! If YOU have a request, or just want to chat, hit me up on the Tumblrs @ all-the-lovely-newsies. Thank you again and have an amazing day! 
> 
> The Latin roughly translates to:  
> “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.”


End file.
